


Dancing Spiders

by CycloneLibbyy



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Ballet, Cute Natasha, Cute Peter, Family Relationships - Freeform, Found Family, Good Peter, Nat teaching Peter Ballet, Natasha Romanoff Teaches Peter Parker Ballet, Natasha Romanov Feels, Precious Peter Parker, Steve Rogers (mentioned) - Freeform, Tony Stark (mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21786571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CycloneLibbyy/pseuds/CycloneLibbyy
Summary: He’d looked almost sad as he said, "I'm lucky I don't trip over my own webs most of the time" and so she had graced him with a truthful reply, if only to wipe that kicked puppy look off his face. “They trained us in dance in the red room.”Panic had crossed his features then and it took her longer than she will ever admit to figure out why. The gears turning in her brain when Peter rushed into a rambling stream of apologies.He cares.The thought had hit her hard and fast but she ignored it all she could in favour of brushing off his succession of sorry, I’m so sorry for bringing up bad memories I should know better I’m -
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	Dancing Spiders

It wasn’t that Nat didn’t think before she bought Peter some pointe shoes, custom made so she knows for sure they'll fit, it’s more that now they’re here she doesn’t quite know what came over her. She can’t be certain he will appreciate the thought that came after training, when he asked her how she's so smooth and elegant in everything, it wasn’t the first time he’d asked and she knows it won’t be the last. Only this time it was slightly different, he’d looked almost sad as he said, "I'm lucky I don't trip over my own webs most of the time" and so she had graced him with a truthful reply, if only to wipe that kicked puppy look off his face. “They trained us in dance in the red room.”  
Panic had crossed his features then and it took her longer than she will ever admit to figure out why. The gears turning in her brain when Peter rushed into a rambling stream of apologies.   
_He cares_.   
The thought had hit her hard and fast but she ignored it all she could in favour of brushing off his succession of _sorry, I’m so sorry_ _for bringing up bad memories I should know better I’m -_

It’s been a week and four days since she actually bought the shoes, they have had three training sessions since they arrived all neatly packaged and yet Nat finds herself putting off asking him. She  _ has _ thought about it.  
Perhaps a little too much, but the idea of training Peter in ballet is one that brings a smile to her face whenever she isn’t overthinking it.    
Maybe he's right maybe it will bring back too many bad memories but when she thinks about it Peter has healed a lot of the teams bad memories. He has this way of helping, not that he realises it. She saw him talk to Tony about Space last evening. Tony who had more panic attacks about space than she could count, Tony who swore he’d never help Nasa again. Tony who once he’d seen space up close and personal through the portal above the tower had so many nightmares even Pepper didn’t know what to do.    
But he didn’t look scared as Peter had rambled about his school project on the latest space technology, hell he’d even offered to help the kid, at which Peter had lit up. She can’t remember when exactly Tony had gotten less afraid, but she knows damn well it’s been a long road. 

Nat is almost sure that she could trace the timeline of Tony fears easing to when he and Peter started getting closer, if not a few months after. God knows everyone seems intent on trying to hide things from the kid, but Peter always finds out. Be it Tony and his panic attacks or Steve and his flashbacks, the kid can’t cure anyone. Don’t misunderstand her here. She gets this, nobody can be cured of Trauma that’s not how it works. The kid just makes it easier to work through, with his unending optimism and his constant reassurance. He’s there. Whether you want him to be or not Peter is there because he cares.

Shaking herself from her thoughts she carefully places the shoes back in their box, folding the tissue paper gently round them. Replacing the lid, Nat found herself staring at the box. Was it right, to hope that sharing this with Peter could help? She had felt more emotion when she danced than she ever had growing up in the red room. Emotions that were punished, things like joy beyond satisfaction. She could almost say she had loved ballet, if they hadn’t beaten the thought from her. 

“Don’t be a coward, Romanoff” she mutters to herself. 

Picking up the box she heads out of her room and to the kitchen. She’s a little late but Nat knows well enough that Peter will still be shoving more breakfast foods than humanly possible into his face. When she gets to the kitchen she finds Peter finishing off a bowl of cereal. “What numbers that?” She chuckles gesturing to the bowl.   
“Third,” He smiles before pulling a face, “Wait no, fourth.” It’s almost cute how his brow crinkles as he tries to remember. “Fancy some eggs?” She asks knowing he could probably eat another three bowls before he’s even close to full.    
“Yes, please!”  
She almost places the box down, ready to ignore it and make a start on cooking those eggs.   
_ Almost. _

"Here."

Peter, bless him, looks confused at her, slowly taking the box she’d all but shoved into his chest. Slowly he opens the box, glancing up at her every few seconds to be sure this is the course of action she was indicating. She smiles gently at him, as encouraging as she can be when she feels nerves set it. Nervous. That must be what she had been feeling all morning. She finds she needn’t have been when she hears his small, woah, she knows he has finally uncovered the deep blue shoes. Her mouth starts before she realises it, "Whenever we train you ask how my executions are so smooth."  
She sees the recognition on his face but forges on anyway. “I told you I was trained in ballet, and if you still want to learn, I am willing to teach you too.” He looks excited for a moment before worry breaks his grin. “Ms Romanoff, Nat, I -” He rushes. “ I would love to you have no idea how much I’d love to but -” She raises her eyebrow at him and he stumbles. “But, I can’t.”   
“Why not?”   
“What if it takes you back there?” Nats eyebrows raise. She had been expecting this line of questioning but not the worry that soaked his voice. “Oh Peter, my sweet Payuk.” She smiles a gentle, more natural smile than she thinks she ever has before. "Steve isn’t afraid to talk about the war anymore,” Peter frowns not following the sudden turn in conversation but she carries on “because talking to  _ you _ he realised he could find happy stories within the bad.” She watches as he catches up but she doesn’t pause long enough for him to argue. 

“Tony doesn't have a panic attack every time space is mentioned because _you_ helped him work through it. I think…"   
She takes a deep breath, "I think I would like to try to overwrite the bad memories with good ones, ballet is discipline, it's elegant and graceful and I have always -” She falters, ever so slightly and she knows Peter picks up on it. “- loved it. Even when I felt like a monster even when they made me shoot my classmates to prove I was better than them even when the red room was at its worst I could get lost in the rhythm of ballet. It was one of the few activities they had us do that didn't involve physical harm." Peter nods like he understands, his face having gone through a myriad of emotions as she was talking. With a tentative smile she gestures the box, carefully picks the shoes up and gasps. Looking between the small deep red spiders printed into the toe of the shoes, just barely visible if you turn them in the light. "I am asking you to help me, if you'd like to, to make happier memories." He beams at her but once again in a second his smile had dropped into a more cautious look. "I'd love to, but - but you have to promise me if it takes you back to a bad place, you tell me and we stop - we do something else, anything -"   
"I promise." She replies without hesitation.   
He beams at her again and she can't help but smile back. 

That morning they match they’re schedules. It becomes their thing, after he convinces May to let him stay at the compound on Sunday nights. Slowly getting into a routine, before dawn every Monday he inhales an energy bar and drags himself to the training room where Nat is already stretching. Those mornings become some of his favourite times of the whole week, sure school is a little more tiring at the beginning but once he gets used to it Peter finds Mondays are far more bearable with the memory of new moves still pulling at his muscles.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it! I've been playing around with a couple of ideas for Spider-man and Merlin fics so keep an eye out if you're interested, and let me know if you'd enjoy more like this :)


End file.
